Category: Random blogs

The other day when our house cleaner came over, (Yes I have a house cleaner that comes once a month. Please don’t judge me!) I thought I’d do a good deed by passing on some old white undershirts from my husband that were in our rag pile. I had originally thought I’d just throw them in our recycle bin, but I decided to ask our cleaner if he wanted them first since I figured he might be able to cut them up and use them for cleaning rags.

After showing the old shirts to him, he surprised me. Not in saying he would gladly take them but rather because of his intended use for them.  I was not expecting that he wanted them for their intended purpose – as shirts – for the workers back in his home country, El Salvador.  When he told me his proposed use for them I felt a bit ashamed. Ashamed that I had ever intended on recycling them at all when some people could greatly use them just as they were. I was ashamed that they were all wrinkled up and in balls, as rag pile items often are. I wanted to get out my iron right then and there. I was ashamed that I was so privileged that the thought that other people would use my so called “rags” as clothing didn’t even cross my mind.

It wasn’t all bad though. A part of me was also happy. I was happy that I had the foresight to ask our cleaner if he wanted the shirts before simply throwing them away. I was happy that I often think of the best place to take items before declaring them trash. I have noticed that so many other people put valuable things in the trash cans simply because they are too lazy to find a good home for things.

Remember that one person’s junk is another person’s treasure. Please don’t just toss things in the trash can. Instead, think of a place that items could go where they can still be used for the items’ intended use. I know that whenever I find a good home for something it feels really good.

I read an article not long ago in the Huffington Post by Mike Robbins titled “We’re All Doing The Best We Can.” He quoted Louise Hay when she said “It’s important to remember that people are always doing the best they can, including you.” His article, and particularly Louise Hay’s quote, really struck me and it will forever remain in the back of my head as I go through life.

It is so easy for people to judge others and I truly wish I were an exception to this imperfect way of being, but unfortunately I’m not. When thinking of the many times when I have judged other people in my life I realize that I have not fully understood their predicament because I was not in their “shoes” – so to speak. It’s very easy to make judgement calls from the outside when you yourself are not entrenched in a situation.

How I can people (including myself) remember to be more compassionate toward others who are really doing the best they can at any given moment?

Perhaps we could start by stopping the never ending judging voices that come forward like…”She COULD really be trying harder” or “If he only did it differently then it would be so much better” or “If they only did it my way.” Simply stop – mid judgement – take a breath, and let it go. And I don’t want to hear… “But really, they just need to…” or “She really IS doing it all wrong… .” It doesn’t matter. None of it matters. Just let it go fully and completely.

This is not to say you have to like the situation; you probably don’t. I’m simply asking you to try to take a step back from it with a little bit of compassion remembering that everyone – including you – is truly “doing the best they can.”